Online jobseekers visit sites daily

The biggest job site survey shows that people in full-time employment are
the main users

More than a quarter of online jobseekers visit an online recruitment site
every day, according to a study.

The National Online Recruitment Audience Survey (NORAS) also shows that a
further 30 per cent check jobsites every two or three days, 20 per cent once a
week, 7 per cent once a fortnight and 6 per cent once a month.

And it is not just the unemployed who are actively seeking jobs – the
research reveals more than half of the 10,000 online jobseekers surveyed are
empl-oyed in full-time work.

Forty-two per cent of online jobseekers are in permanent positions while
hunting for new roles, with a further 12 per cent being those working more than
30 hours a week on a contract or temporary basis.

A quarter of respondents said they were unemployed, and 8 per cent were in
full-time education.

The study, which was based on unique user figures for most of the main job
sites from October to December 2002, shows that almost half (49 per cent) of
those looking for work classed themselves as employees, 20 per cent as
managers, and 7 per cent as senior managers.

All respondents were paid less than £80,000 per year, with the average
salary sitting at £22,494.

The biggest jobsite users were admin staff and secretaries (14 per cent),
those in IT (10 per cent) and engineering (7 per cent).

Of all the methods available to search for jobs, the internet was by far the
most preferred – 43 per cent said it was their favourite method. Local
newspapers came second with 18 per cent, and recruitment agencies were third at
11 per cent.

The figures also show that 71 per cent of online jobseekers had applied for
a job they found on the internet, and almost 30 per cent had been successful in
gaining a position.

Simon Devitt, director of Fish4Jobs, said the number of people who had
successfully applied for jobs online was "surprisingly high".

He said that while the number of people finding jobs online increases, spend
on job boards remains low: "The web has become a key recruitment tool, but
the money is yet to come."

Tim Elkington, managing director of Enhance Media, which carried out the
NORAS study, said the number of people using jobsites has shown steady growth,
rising by around 15 per cent in six months, and he expects this to continue in
the short and medium term.